Sleep Disturbances and Risk of Sports Injury Among Collegiate Student-Athletes.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between collegiate student-athletes' sleep and injury status.

DESIGN

This study was a secondary analysis of observational survey data of student-athletes collected across 2 time periods, October 2020 and January 2021.

SETTING

Data were collected as part of an ongoing national (USA) longitudinal survey investigating student-athletes' well-being in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were made-up of a subsample of participants from the parent study. Data from 89 exact matched pairs (across 5 demographics) of injured and noninjured student-athletes (68.5% NCAA Division I, 82.0% women) were assessed.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

Student-athletes' sleep disturbance levels were the primary independent variable of interest. Analytic models also covaried for gender, racial, and ethnic identities, sport in-seasons, and previous injury status.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Participant endorsed injury status was the main outcome measure of interest. Hypotheses were formulated during the data collection of the parent study.

RESULTS

Student-athletes injured in January 2021 reported higher average sleep disturbances in both October 2020 and January 2021 than noninjured student-athletes but not student-athletes injured in October. In addition, October 2020 sleep disturbances were a significant predictor (P = 0.007) of injury, such that odds of student-athletes being injured increased 1.07 times for each unit increase in their sleep disturbances controlling for their identities, sport in-season, and previous injury status.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings signal support for the screening and targeting of student-athletes' sleep problems to reduce potential occurrences of sports-related injuries in student-athletes.